


Lay Your Head On Me.

by juniwrites



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Might be slightly OOC, Oikawa Tooru's Knee Injury, Sad Iwaizumi Hajime, Sad Oikawa Tooru, basically okis comforting iwa post game, can be read as platonic or romantic so i tagged both, enjoy, knee injury also also tagged for clout ig bc its mentioned in like one line im a clown, matsukawa and hanamaki for like two seconds but im taggong for clout, pre relationship i guess???, very soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-24
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:14:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24854401
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juniwrites/pseuds/juniwrites
Summary: Iwaizumi needs a pick me up after a game, too.Or, Oikawa comforting Iwaizumi after the Seijoh match bc I need hurt comfort content.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime & Oikawa Tooru, Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 2
Kudos: 124





	Lay Your Head On Me.

Everything aches.

His hands are red and they sting from hours of constant contact with the ball behind him on the floor. The wrist on his right hand is a darker shade from where the ball bounced right off his failed receive. The rest of his body aches from the fall he took setting up that last set. His knee hurts the worst of all. He can still feel the sharp pain that lingered from digging it into the floor as he forced himself to his feet, although he can't bring himself to care.

The room is quiet.

For the first five minutes after their loss, it feels like he had been frozen in time while life continued on without him. Across the court, Karasuno's players huddle in a mess of what he assumes to be tears and cries, although he can only hear static. They're all red faced and screaming their throats raw, but he can't hear anything besides his own ragged breath and beating heart. The crowd, their supporters, cheer just as loud as they scream with little to no care to their fallen competitors.

His own team is scattered around the floor, all in various stages of disbelief. The first and second years feign empty expressions, jaws clenched and eyes distant as they make their way to a line. Watari and Kindaichi are the exceptions, crying violently with complete disregard for those around them.

The third years are a collective mess. Hanamaki and Matsukawa are lost and unsure of where they stand in the moment. Oikawa makes eye contact with Yuda, who waits in the stands, from where he stands on the court. He sobs heavily into the shoulder of another faceless supporter. Despite all that, you could collectively combine the pain of everyone in the room but it wouldn't even come close to what he felt looking at Iwaizumi, who's nails dig deep into his palms as he forces back a number of sobs through gritted teeth.

As the captain, he should know what to say in this moment, how to lift up his teammates and reassure them, but he isn't a fool. No amount of reassurance could undo the damage that has already been done.

"Line up, " He calls, rising to his feet. He never hears the words leave his mouth but everyone else follows regardless.

Oikawa mindlessly makes his way to Iwaizumi, who stands in place as if his feet are glued to the floor. He doesn't know what to say so he doesn't speak. Instead, he finds himself delivering a loud smack to the back of his sweaty number four jersey, one strong enough to knock him off balance for just a moment. He doesn't stop to console him, settling for taking his place at the front of the line. Iwaizumi follows shortly after, stopping next to Matsukawa. He sends one final glance to his unsteady ace before he speaks, " Thank you for your support. "

_Not yet_ , he tells himself as they gather their things. They need the privacy a crowded court couldn't provide.

* * *

They gather in a locker room after leaving the court. The room is small, nowhere near the size of their club room at Seijoh, but they don't plan to linger too long. Only until the bus arrives.

It's painfully quiet amongst them all, save for the occasional sniffle from where the first years have gathered together. The coaches leave them to themselves, choosing to wait for the buses to arrive by the entrance. By default, Oikawa is left in charge as the captain.

He pacing around the room, unable to sit still for too long, when they're directed to make their way outside as the bus is to arrive in fifteen minutes. His teammates look to him, and he takes it as a signal to lead them out of the room. His bag is already slung over his shoulder when his eyes find his vice captain curled into the left corner of the room. He lets the bag fall back to the floor. He sends a silent but knowing glance to Hanamaki, who takes the lead and ushers their remaining teammates from the room.

Oikawa takes a seat next to Iwaizumi. The floor is uncomfortably cold and dusty against what little bare skin wasn't hidden by his uniform, but he keeps quiet despite the natural urge to whine in discomfort.

Iwaizumi whimpers quietly against his side, the occasional soft shudder of his shoulders following soon after. His face is hidden, buried between his hands and knees, but Oikawa doesn't need to see a thing to visualize the utter pain which likely overtakes his features. He doesn't need to see his face to feel his pain. One look at Iwaizumi and he thinks he might break down at his side, something neither of them need.

He imagines it to be a much less composed equivalent to what he had seen earlier on the court — Iwaizumi's face taking on a splotchy red color as he tried, and failed, to force back the tears flooding from his eyes. He forced his bottom lip between his teeth, biting down hard enough to break skin, in an attempt to silence his broken sobs, his own way of hiding the vulnerability he likely saw as weakness.

Oikawa presses a hand to Iwaizumi's raised knee, gripping it tightly. Physical contact had always been his preferred way of comfort. In contrast to his constant witty remarks and flirtatious comments, he had never been too good with words when it needed to count. He doesn't quite trust his words to provide the anchor his friend needed in that moment, but still, he's compelled to speak.

"I know what you're thinking, " He spoke, chin raised and eyes glossing over everything in the tiny room other than his fallen companion, " and you should stop because it's stupid. "

It comes out harsher than he had meant it too, but he continues when he is ignored. " Quit beating yourself up over something so selfish and idiotic. You did your best. You were enough. "

His response comes back muffled, a result of the fabric against his mouth. Oikawa presses for him to repeat with a stern resolve. A second comes only after his shoulders laid still and the quiet sobs had ceased, "My best couldn't get us a win. My best wasn't fucking enough. "

Oikawa's head falls flat against the hard wall, a dry laugh escaping his lips, "That's quite hypocritical of you, don't you think, Iwa-chan? Just the other day you were telling me that my best wasn't all that mattered. "

"It's different — "

"You fucking know it isn't, Hajime. We both know that, so quit it already. "

Iwaizumi scoffs, "You're really lecturing me on self pity? You, the asshole constantly overworking himself because he's so desperate to win? Give me a break, Oikawa. If anyone's a hypocrite here, it's you."

He rises to his feet shortly after, shaking Oikawa's arm from his foot and reaching for his bag with a far too strained expression, ready to put on the face the team needed. He mumbles under his breath, just softly enough that Oikawa struggles to hear. The visual only seemed to anger him more.

_How dare he_ , he thinks. How dare he preach about self worth yet refuse to believe the same about himself when it matters most. How dare he act as if he didn't do just as much as anyone else on the goddamn team, like he's carrying it all on his shoulders, like he himself has for years.

" _Shut up_. "

He doesn't quite remember moving, but suddenly his hands are gripping onto Iwaizumi's polyester jacket and he's towering above him, seething. Iwaizumi shudders against the wall and he doesn't need to see his face to know it's a result of the intense look in his eyes.

" What about you, huh? You're sitting here moping over the loss as if you're carrying the entire team on your back. " He sneers at him, lips pressed tightly in a snarl, " You know you did your best, the entire team did their goddamn best so quit crying that you could have done more because it wouldn't change a goddamn thing. "

" You don't get it! What kind of ace am I if — "

" I said shut up, Hajime. What did you tell me all those years ago, huh? _The best team of six wins_. And we were good, we were fucking amazing, but at the end of the day, Karasuno was just better. It doesn't matter by how much, because they were. "

Their eyes meet for the first time since they left the court. Iwaizumi's eyes are red and puffy from crying. The glossy sheen makes Oikawa think he might just start again. His own eyes probably look the same, but from anger rather than crying. He finds himself gripping the fabric tighter as he speaks, "So get your head out of your ass and quit acting like me, damn it, because this isn't you. You're better than that and you fucking know it. "

Oikawa doesn't wait for the weight of his words to set in. Instead, he forces the older man's head towards his body. The tension in his own shoulders seems to fade away as Iwaizumi settles his face into the crook of his neck, hands lingering at his sides. His own hands are in Iwaizumi's hair, weaving their way through the damp strands.

A content sigh escapes Iwaizumi's lips, arms snaking around Oikawa's waist, " You should have gone to nationals. You should have had a team good enough to take down Karasuno and Shiratorizawa to take you there. I couldn't give you that. I couldn't give you what you wanted, what you deserved. "

He laughs into Iwaizumi's hair, "Iwa-chan, are you some sort of clone? I have to admit, I'd be a bit offended if the aliens decided to clone you over me, but they obviously didn't do a good job considering how much you sound like Ushiwaka-chan. Though, I guess you're both a bit empty headed up there, so I can't really blame them for the misunderstanding. "

Iwaizumi immediately pulls away and knocks him to the ground, following up with an, "Don't be stupid, Shittykawa. I'm serious. "

Oikawa only smiles, "I know. You're right in saying I could have gone to a school like Shiratorizawa and probably made it to nationals year after year, but you're completely wrong in thinking I would be happy doing any of that with anyone else but you. "

Oikawa's voice lacks the usual teasing or playful nature his grin would suggest, leaving his statement as nothing but sincere. Iwaizumi is caught slightly off guard in moments like this, which is why he fails to realize that Oikawa has already made his way out of the room, both of their bags in hand, hollering out something he didn't catch before the door slams behind him.

"Oi! Damn it, Oikawa. You can't just say shit like that then walk away from me! "

**Author's Note:**

> am i an angsty bean writing this in the middle of the night? absolutely, so i hope you enjoyed this trash. i swear i haven't written in forever, but iwaoi hell was all i needed to take me back to my roots (´･ω･`)


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